Men's hockey drop the puck on new season in Guelph

TORONTO — Riding the momentum of their record-breaking 2016-17 regular season, the Ryerson Rams will bring their core pieces and a handful of exciting recruits into another OUA men's hockey season.

Following a campaign that saw the Rams break several regular season records including: most points (46), most wins (22), most goals (136), and fewest goals allowed (76) to name a few; now heading into 2017-18, the Rams will look to repeat their regular season dominance and translate that into playoff success.

Key Dates

Thursday, October 12th, 2017 | RAMS at GUELPH — REGULAR SEASON OPENER

The action officialy gets underway in 97 days when the Rams travel to the Gryphon Centre Arena to open their new season. With the recruiting class nearly complete and several key, core pieces returning to the roster, the Rams seem to be ready for anything. Last year Ryerson successfully exorcised their demons following a heartbreaking 11-3 loss that eliminated them from the playoffs in 2015-16, by putting up 11 goals of their own to win 11-4 in their first trip back to Guelph. That big road win came just two days after defeating the Gryphons 5-2 on Mattamy Home Ice, sweeping the season series.

SATURDAY, October 14th, 2017 | RAMS vs WINDSOR — HOME OPENER

Year in and year out, a team's home opener is one of the most exciting games of the season. Add in the fact that your team is playing against the school that eliminated from last year's playoffs, and you turn a can't miss game into an "I-absolutely-have-to-be-there" game. The Lancers and Rams could be on the verge of a budding, non-geographic OUA rivalry, and this game could really set the tone for the season series and the rivalry itself moving forward.

Queen's is one of the strongest teams in the OUA and they proved what they were capable of by qualifying for nationals last season, despite the road to Fredericton being both figuratively and literally hard to traverse. Last year's meeting between these two teams was billed to be one of the most exciting of the year, but with Queen's losing several key pieces to the 2017 Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the game was not nearly as competitive as perhaps it could have been, with the Rams dominating the game for a 4-0 shutout. This year—barring injuries and any other unforeseen circumstances—both teams should be fielding their top lineups. It will be a battle between one of the league's best offences and quite possibly the league's best goaltender. It should be Ryerson's toughest test up until that point in the season, making it a treat for fans at Mattamy Home Ice.

Friday, January 19th, 2017 | RAMS vs York — Potential Division Title on the Line

Any time that two teams in the same city compete in a U SPORTS hockey game, you're almost always going to be in for a fun 60 minutes. Just think of Mount Royal and Calgary, Queen's and RMC, and Ottawa and Carleton. The Ryerson Rams and York Lions are certainly no exception to that rule. Last season the Lions had the Rams' number, winning both games in the season series, including a 2-1 double overtime heartbreaker at Canlan Ice Sports in October. In what is already a great OUA hockey rivalry, the defending Queen's Cup champs will be returning to Maple Leaf Gardens with the potential of a division title on the line.